Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus was a carnivorous dinosaur that lived in Africa during the Cretaceous period. The most notable feature of Spinosaurus was the 10-foot sail on its back, vaguely similar to the spines on ''Dimetrodon''. Spinosaurus is believed to have been a powerful hunter, from evidence of related species, show how spinosaurids and its relatives were able to hunt large dinosaurs, and catch large fish. Discovery In 1912, a German paleontological expedition led by Ernst Stromer discovered the remains of several new Late Cretaceous dinosaurs in Egypt. Spinosaurus, a large theropod, was one of the new dinosaurs. However, in World War II, the first Spinosaurus skeleton was destroyed. General Description Spinosaurus ''is believed to have grown to 12 meters (39 ft.) long, or even larger. It got its name, which means "spiny lizard," because of the tall spines on its vertebrae (bones of the spine), some reaching a height of six feet. They formed a sail along the animal's back, though not like those of the Permian mammal-like reptile ''Dimetrodon. The sail may have been a thermal regulator, releasing heat on hot days and absorbing heat on colder days. It also may have been used as a display to attract members of its own species and intimidate other species. Spinosaurus was believed to grow 60 ft (18m) ,14-19 feet tall (4-6 m), was 4-12 tons (8,000-24,000 lbs), had 6-10 ft spines (2m-3m), 3-5 inch teeth (8-12 cm), and had a 4-6 ft skull (1-2m). From these estimates, S '' ''pinosaurus ''could be the largest terrestrial carnivore ever known. Even though the skeleton is incomplete, ''Spinosaurus shows several other interesting features. It was a long theropod. The teeth are different from other theropod teeth because they were conical, and the serrations (the cutting ridges along the sides) were very small. These tooth features, along with the shape of the skull bones, show that Spinosaurus is similar to Baryonyx. They are both part of the group Spinosauridae, but Spinosaurus belongs to a sub-group known as spinosauridae, while Baryonyx belongs to a separate group known as baryonychidae, which have different features among their members. Spinosaurus is believed to have eaten fish, but there has been controversy about a dinosaur of that size relying on just fish, no matter how big they were. It is more likely that it preyed upon land animals and fish. The original skeleton of this theropod was destroyed during the course of World War II. However, a piece of a skull bone belonging to another Spinosaurus ''that was found on a shelf in a German museum. It is most likely that another expedition to Egypt would uncover more skeletons so that more can be learned about ''Spinosaurus. Spinosauru s was the apex predator of its time. It lived with sauropods like Paralititan, large theropods Carcharodontosaurus, and large crocodiles like Sarcosuchus. In the media Spinosaurus had a very large role in the third Jurassic Park movie, the only Jurassic Park film not based on a Michael Crichton book. It was seen fighting a sub-adult Tyrannosaurus Rex, though this fight could not have occured in the specified time period as the two dinosaurs lived during different times of the Cretaceou s Period. During the battle, the Spinosaurus locks its jaws onto the neck of the Tyrannosaurus then uses its arms to dislocate the neck causing the Tyrannosaurus to die. However, that probably wouldn't have been the outcome if it were to happen in real life, because earlier in the fight, the Tyrannosaurus bites down onto the neck of the Spi''nosaurus. This would have killed the ''Spinosaurus because of Tyrannosaurus's ability to use its jaws to crush bone. The Spinosaurus probably would've died anyway because of T.Rex's infectious bite. And recent study now shows that Spinosaurus' arms weren't flexi ble enough to reach very high, it wasn't too powerful to take on tough prey, and its bones were rather fragile. Ever since Jurassic Park 3 was released, Spinosaurus has become a very popular dinosaur in pop culture. Spinosaurus also appears in the video games Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, Zoo Tycoon, Carnivores 2, and many more. It is also popular as a player made animal in "Zoo Tycoon 2". Spinosaurus appears in Series 4 of Primeval and is inaccurately shown living in the same place as a raptor, and also having a skull more similar to Suchomimus. It is also in Monsters Ressurected as the top predator. Spinosaurus appears in Bizarre Dinosaurs which its sail's use is talked about. Spinosaurus appears in the first episode of Planet Dinosaur as a first hunter and shown to hunt land animals if there is no aquatic animals to eat, and competes against a Carcharodontosaurus for an Ouranosaurus carcass and wins, but later dies from the infections of the other theropod's bite. thumb|300px|right|Spinosaurus dying out Category:Dinosaurs Category:Carnivores Category:Spinosaurids Category:Early Cretaceous dinosaurs Category:Large Carnivores Category:Dinosaurs of Africa Category:Theropods Category:Primeval Category:Spinosaurdae Category:Zoo Tycoon Dinosaur Digs Creatures Category:Apex predators